This week he takes on a company offering seven per cent interest compounded daily on an investment and NatWest in a dispute over cash paid into a branch.

Puffed up: Tobacco crops were said to have made 2,000 per cent profit

P.R.writes: A scheme called Royalty 7, run by Finance Your Dream Limited from an address in London, is offering seven per cent interest compounded daily.

It sounds like another scam so I hope you can warn readers.

Well spotted. Almost everything about Finance Your Dream Limited is false, including the idea that it can pay seven per cent daily interest. If it could, this business could single-handedly rescue the Greek economy within weeks.

The company claims to have been operating since 2001 and to have made a fortune through property development in Dubai.

Since then it has expanded into mortgage broking, tourism and the energy sector.

More...

It claims to have made a profit of more than 2,000 per cent from tobacco and cocoa crops, with major deals in Brazil and China. However, anyone looking for proof will be disappointed.

Finance Your Dream says: ‘Specific details of our asset location, shares we own, our trading procedure and business references are classified due to the private nature of our agreements with all parties involved.’

Or perhaps this is simply a crooked scheme run by crooked people?

The truth is that the company was registered just eight months ago and has issued no accounts or other financial details.

It names its boss as Michael Solomon, but Companies House records show its sole director as Dmitry Berger, with an address in Israel and a post office box number at a business park on the Isle of Man.

The island’s Financial Supervision Commission, which punches well above its weight as a watchdog, says this is hokum. It told me: ‘PO Box 170 is currently allocated to a department of the Isle of Man government.’

Claims by Berger and his company to have links to the island are false, officials added, and anyone who has invested should contact the police.

But the lies do not stop there. For several months Finance Your Dream used an upmarket address in south-west London as its registered office and it still gives it as its trading address – to the dismay of the real occupants of the property.

Chartered accountant Michael Grindle, whose home it is, has contacted the police and the Serious Fraud Office. He told me: ‘Neither I nor any member of my family has any connection whatsoever to the business’.

Finance Your Dream recently changed its registered office to an address in Coventry occupied by Simple Formations, a company formation agency.

Simple Formations confirmed that the company was a customer, but declined to say who really runs it.

The bottom line, of course, is that even if it did have a genuine address for itself and its director, Finance Your Dream would still be 100 per cent illegal. On Tuesday last week, the Financial Services Authority warned that it had no licence to accept deposits from the public.

If, or rather when, the wheels drop off, investors will not be able to complain to the Ombudsman or claim compensation.

Its lies and law-breaking should mean the company is closed down – and the sooner the better.

We must be able to rely on bank receipts

Miss F.B.writes: My grandparents helped to fund my move to London for a new job.

They lent me money for expenses, including rent, and the cash was counted out into envelopes that were then sealed. I went to NatWest in Wandsworth, south-west London, and handed over the rent envelope so the money could be deposited into my landlord’s account.

The cashier opened the envelope, counted the money and gave me a receipt for £568.

A few days later the landlord told me NatWest had credited his account with £100 less than I paid in. The bank told him I had not deposited the right amount.

Your problems were worsened because NatWest refused to discuss the matter on the grounds that the account was the landlord’s and not yours. Then your landlord claimed £100 from the security deposit you paid before moving in.

The closest you got to an explanation came when you wasted an hour at the branch, only to be told that the mistake was yours and the bank had counted the cash again after you left.

I did wonder why the bank counted the money again, after already giving you a receipt.

NatWest has told me that cash in the till was counted at the end of the day and found to be £100 short.

The bank believes the shortfall was in your deposit because the cashier made a handwritten note that she had received one £10 note and 23 £20 notes, which adds up to £470 and not £570. Presumably you got £2 in change.

Despite this, I think that except in extreme circumstances we should all be able to rely on a bank’s receipt, and NatWest accepts its receipt says you deposited £568.

The bank has considered this and I am pleased to say it has credited your account with £100 to cover the sum claimed by your landlord.

In addition, NatWest is going the extra mile, or even further. Partly because your landlord kept your £100, your account went overdrawn. You have paid charges of £96, with £210 of further charges in the pipeline. The bank is refunding the £96 and cancelling the £210.

And finally, to reflect the time you spent in trying to sort this out, NatWest is adding a further £75 to your account. I am sure this is a better outcome than you could have expected.

Disgraced boss of claims firm surfaces again

Another claims management company has come under the Ministry of Justice’s spotlight through links to the disgraced Tucan Claims.

It failed to do so and the Ministry now says: ‘As Tucan failed to meet the obligations placed on it, the Claims Management Regulation unit intends to continue enforcement action against the business.’

However, on Monday Tucan manager Melfyn Roberts, widely regarded as the real boss of the Bristol business, was suddenly appointed a director of DWS Claims, in Chepstow, Monmouthshire.

DWS advertises that it charges a ‘contingency fee’ of £275 upfront.

Ministry of Justice officials said: ‘We are fully aware of the links between DWS and Tucan, and are actively monitoring this business.’

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.